Many manufacturing processes are available to form sheet metal blanks into parts in a wide variety of industries. For example, drawing and deep drawing of sheet metal blanks is a process in which the metal blank is drawn between an upper die and a lower die to take a shape that might somewhat resemble the shape of the finished part. Such manufacturing processes are well-suited to form parts having less complex geometries.
Additional manufacturing processes might also take place after drawing. For example, flanging can bend an end region of the metal to form a flange. However, when flanges are formed, there may be residual stresses in regions of the flange that can distort the final shape of the part due to the stretching and bending of the metal to form the flange.